[0 - 0] - I'm Frank Proto,
[0 - 2] professional chef and culinary instructor,
[2 - 3] and today I'm gonna show you
[3 - 5] how to make the best potato salad.
[5 - 7] This recipe is simple and quick.
[7 - 8] You don't need a lot of ingredients.
[8 - 11] You can do this, I promise.
[11 - 13] This is potato salad 101.
[16 - 18] Potato salad comes in a lot of different forms.
[18 - 20] Everyone has their own preference.
[20 - 22] My perfect potato salad
[22 - 23] is the way that my grandmother used to make it.
[23 - 27] It is very simple, but it is extremely delicious.
[27 - 29] It's boiled potatoes.
[29 - 32] A Yukon gold to me is one of the best waxy potatoes.
[32 - 36] It holds its shape, it has great flavor and texture.
[36 - 37] For the most part, waxy potatoes
[37 - 39] like a Yukon Gold don't get fluffy.
[39 - 42] They get more of like a kind of a creamy texture
[42 - 42] when you cook them,
[42 - 45] which is exactly what you want for a good potato salad.
[45 - 47] I always start out with cold water.
[47 - 48] My potatoes are washed.
[48 - 49] I scrubbed the skins.
[49 - 51] I know you've had waterlogged potatoes.
[51 - 53] They're wet, they're squishy, and it's not good.
[53 - 55] I find if you leave the skins on
[55 - 56] you kind of have that jacket on them
[56 - 58] and the potatoes don't get waterlogged.
[58 - 61] So potatoes into cold water, turn it on.
[61 - 62] If we boil the potatoes the whole time
[62 - 65] they kind of jump around the pan and they get beat up,
[65 - 68] the skins come off, we lose a lot of starch,
[68 - 71] so let it come to a boil and then lower it to a simmer.
[71 - 74] It's probably gonna take about 35 to 40 minutes
[74 - 75] to cook these potatoes.
[75 - 77] So you gotta be patient.
[77 - 79] Sometimes people will want to put salt into this water.
[79 - 81] I stay away from that.
[81 - 83] If I have peeled potatoes in the water,
[83 - 84] I will salt the water
[84 - 87] because the salt's actually gonna get into the potato.
[87 - 89] Here, I have the skins on, so salt's not getting in.
[89 - 91] I'm also gonna rinse these potatoes
[91 - 93] and chill them down under cold water
[93 - 95] so that rinsing and chilling
[95 - 97] is gonna wash off any seasoning anyway
[97 - 99] so I choose not to salt the water.
[99 - 101] Potatoes have been in the pot simmering away happily
[102 - 103] for about 20, 25 minutes,
[103 - 106] and now what I like to do is add my eggs.
[106 - 108] The egg need about 10, 12 minutes.
[108 - 109] So I'm gonna put my eggs in.
[109 - 112] The potatoes and the eggs will be done at the same time,
[112 - 115] and they all cook happily away together.
[115 - 116] And now we wait.
[116 - 117] You can see that I have a little bit
[117 - 119] of falling apart potatoes,
[119 - 121] but they're not shredding and falling apart.
[121 - 123] Now how do I know that potatoes are done, right?
[123 - 124] This is a raw potato.
[124 - 127] If I stab this raw potato, what happens?
[128 - 130] It doesn't fall off.
[130 - 131] It holds on real tight.
[131 - 136] But if I stab a potato that is mostly cooked,
[136 - 138] it slips right off of my paring knife,
[138 - 139] and that's what I want.
[139 - 141] It should slip off my paring knife.
[141 - 142] It should not fall apart.
[142 - 144] These are perfect.
[144 - 145] Let's drain 'em.
[145 - 146] I got my potatoes in the pot.
[146 - 149] I've run some cold water over 'em so they're easy to handle.
[149 - 152] And as a chef, I might want to ice these down,
[152 - 154] and that's okay if you have the ice and you want to do it.
[154 - 157] I'm gonna let them cool so that I can handle them
[157 - 158] and then we can finish the salad.
[161 - 163] So now all I really wanna do is peel everything
[163 - 164] and get into my bowl.
[164 - 165] I'm not gonna use a cutting board.
[165 - 167] I have a bowl for all my waste,
[167 - 169] I have a bowl that my salad's gonna go into.
[169 - 170] I get a paring knife.
[170 - 172] Just remember these are cooled off,
[172 - 174] and I can hold 'em in my hand without being uncomfortable.
[174 - 175] If they're still hot,
[175 - 178] you can always put them in a towel and peel them.
[178 - 179] But for the most part,
[179 - 181] I like to cool 'em so they're easy to peel.
[181 - 184] I can tell that this potato is cooked right on the money
[184 - 187] because the outside is not kinda shredding
[187 - 188] and falling apart.
[188 - 190] And then when I stick my knife through
[190 - 192] it just has a little bit of resistance.
[192 - 195] So what I like to do is cut my potato in half,
[195 - 200] in half again, and then just into nice chunks.
[200 - 202] Potatoes are cut, now we can peel the eggs.
[202 - 203] And what I like to do with eggs
[203 - 207] is just kind of bang them on the table.
[207 - 210] There's almost always a little air gap in one side,
[210 - 212] and that always helps your eggs peel better,
[212 - 214] and then we peel.
[214 - 215] Eggs are really difficult to peel
[215 - 217] while they're still super hot.
[217 - 218] You should always cool them down a little.
[218 - 220] And then this membrane separates away from the egg
[220 - 223] and they're a lot easier to peel.
[223 - 227] So not cold, not hot, but somewhere in between,
[227 - 230] and these shells come off like a dream.
[230 - 232] My eggs are peeled, and I have a really great trick
[232 - 233] on how to chop these up.
[233 - 235] No fuss, no muss.
[235 - 237] Get yourself a resting rack.
[237 - 242] Put it on top, take your egg, smash it through.
[242 - 243] Look at our eggs are chopped.
[243 - 247] Potato salad, for egg salad, this is the right way to do it.
[247 - 249] It's super quick and efficient.
[249 - 251] I'm going to save two eggs for garnish.
[251 - 253] I'm just gonna slice them on top,
[253 - 256] but chopping eggs couldn't be any simpler than that.
[259 - 261] Time to make our salad.
[261 - 263] The ingredients for this salad is super simple.
[263 - 266] It's just potatoes, eggs, olives, mayonnaise, and vinegar.
[266 - 268] Of course, salt and pepper.
[268 - 270] So you kind of gotta get these right,
[270 - 271] so you have to taste as you go.
[271 - 273] So I'm gonna start out
[273 - 275] with just a little bit of black pepper.
[275 - 277] Not a lot, and a decent amount of salt.
[277 - 279] Remember, there's no salt in this yet.
[279 - 281] I'm using kosher salt.
[281 - 283] Whenever I salt things, people think that I'm over salting,
[283 - 286] but kosher salt has big flakes, you can see them better.
[286 - 290] So it looks like I'm putting a lot of salt in, but I'm not. Distilled vinegar.
[290 - 292] You could be tempted to use fancy vinegar for this.
[292 - 294] I want white distilled.
[294 - 298] It's got a clean flavor, it's nice and acidic.
[298 - 301] I put it in about a quarter cup, maybe a little less.
[301 - 302] And I'd like to put that over the potatoes
[302 - 304] before I put the mayonnaise on
[304 - 306] just for the fact that the potatoes will soak it up.
[306 - 309] So now I'm just gonna kind of give it a little toss
[309 - 311] with that salt, pepper, and vinegar.
[311 - 313] I have some of these green olives with pimento in them.
[313 - 315] I think it adds some color, a little pop of salt.
[315 - 317] I'm just gonna add these whole
[317 - 320] and save some on the side for garnish later
[320 - 322] just to kind of stud on top.
[322 - 324] Last but not least is mayonnaise.
[324 - 325] I like Hellmann's.
[325 - 327] A good prepared mayonnaise is key here.
[327 - 329] Do not use Miracle Whip.
[329 - 331] Miracle Whip is gross.
[331 - 332] Throw it out the window.
[332 - 334] Mayonnaise every single time,
[334 - 336] and you don't want to be shy with this.
[336 - 338] You want to make sure that there's enough mayonnaise
[338 - 341] that you don't have a dry potato salad.
[341 - 343] You want it to be dressed really well.
[343 - 347] So at this point, we just kind of give it a little toss.
[347 - 350] What's gonna happen is as this salad sits,
[350 - 352] it will soak up some of that mayonnaise.
[352 - 353] So you might have to readjust
[353 - 355] after it sits for a little while,
[355 - 358] but I want it to be nice and creamy and delicious.
[358 - 361] Make sure the egg is studded through.
[361 - 363] I think that's good on the mayonnaise for now.
[363 - 366] I'm gonna test the salt and pepper in this.
[366 - 371] Just get a piece of potato. Good.
[371 - 373] I'm tasting potatoes, I'm tasting a little vinegar.
[373 - 374] It definitely needs a little more salt.
[374 - 377] It definitely needs just a little more mayonnaise.
[377 - 378] Finish mixing it up.
[379 - 382] It's not making that sound, it's not good.
[382 - 384] Lemme give it another little taste.
[386 - 387] I think we're good there.
[387 - 389] We're gonna leave it alone.
[389 - 390] It's on the money.
[393 - 395] Time to plate it up. It's simple.
[395 - 397] It's potato salad, it's a side.
[397 - 398] It's not gonna be too fancy.
[398 - 403] Get yourself a nice heaping mound of potato salad.
[403 - 405] Get it in there.
[405 - 406] Don't be shy.
[406 - 408] I'm gonna stud it with a couple of olives,
[408 - 412] and then I like to just take slices of the egg
[412 - 414] and kind of just put that around
[414 - 416] a little bit of that yolk crumbling.
[416 - 419] And there you have it everyone, that is my potato salad.
[419 - 420] Let's give it a taste.
[421 - 422] Get a nice piece of potato in there,
[422 - 424] make sure you get it nice and dressed.
[425 - 428] Hmm. Potatoes are perfectly cooked.
[428 - 430] They have a little bit of bite to them,
[430 - 431] crumbly on the outside.
[431 - 433] The olives have a nice salty pop.
[433 - 435] It's creamy, it's eggy.
[435 - 437] Every time I try it, I'm that little boy
[437 - 439] back on Long Island, my grandmother's serving this up,
[439 - 441] and that's part of why this is so wonderful.
[441 - 442] It's a great potato salad,
[442 - 444] but then I get to think about my grandma.